Brackenfire's Death
by XxFallingFeathersxX
Summary: My name is Brackenfire, and this is the story of how I died. / When three tiny kits lose their way, they find an old, starry cat from a place they don't know, with a story they've never heard. This is the story of Brackenfire, brave beyond the odds. Contains my OCs Brackenfire, Aspenkit, and Thorn of Rose in Rock and one canon cat, Dandelionkit. R&R please!


**So this is the story of one of my OCs, Brackenfire. That's all I'm explaining. Enjoy!**

* * *

…Who's there?

…I can smell you.

…I might be old, but my sense of smell hasn't gone yet!

…There you are. Who are you little kits? Have you lost your way?

…I see. You're Dandelionkit, of ThunderClan. And Aspenkit, of Riverclan. And you are Thorn of Rose in Rock, from the Tribe of Rushing Water. I am just going to call you Thorn.

I know of you kits. You, Dandelionkit, were born very sick and died very young. Aspenkit, you never got to take your first breath by the lake, because you were born quiet and still. And Thorn…your skies are not here. I know nothing of you. You are very far from home.

However, it is late. You can return to your skies in the morning. For now, I can take care of you.

…A story? Well, Aspenkit, I know very few stories. My Clan is not one of your four; you will not have heard of it. My Clan rarely tells stories. But…I can tell you one. One that I lived. Settle in, kits, this tale is quite long-winded. You can share my nest—there you are—tuck in nice and close, kits, it gets cold this late in leaf-fall.

My name is Brackenfire, and this is the story of how I died.

* * *

 _It was predestined by StarClan, even before I was born. My mother, Whispersong, had a dream from StarClan. This story starts with her, in MoonClan._

 _Unlike your Clans, Aspenkit, there were only three clans in the forest where I lived. MoonClan, FireClan, and RainClan. Our MoonClan can be easily compared to your ThunderClan, Dandelionkit. RainClan is somewhat like your RiverClan, Aspenkit._

 _Keep your fur on, Thorn of Rose. I believe you will like the strong, independent, fiercely loyal cats of FireClan._

 _*8**8*_

Whispersong woke up standing in a clearing in the middle of the forest. The half-moon was shining high overhead, and the trees were bathed in starlight.

At first she panicked—her belly was no longer swollen with her kits—but when she turned to see a white tomcat padding through the trees, she relaxed as she realized she was in StarClan. Then a new fear settled in like a chill.

"Greetings, Whispersong," he murmured.

"Am—Have I died?" she whispered, her breath coming in shallow gasps. "My kits—Icethorn—"

"You have not died," he replied softly, purring. "Your kits are still in your belly, and Icethorn is waiting for you back in your camp. I have called you here to speak with me."

Her breathing eased, but her heart didn't settle. "Snowstar—it's been so long… What could you possibly have to tell me? I'm not a medicine cat—or a leader—"

Snowstar turned his bright blue gaze on a frond of bracken, which was shriveled and brown even in the height of greenleaf. "Bracken," he murmured. "It shelters our prey, forms the berries our prey eats so they can fill our bellies. And yet…"

Immediately, the bush burst into flames, roaring bright orange with neon blue at the center. Whispersong leapt backwards with a yelp. Her eyes were glued on the roaring flame, on the hot blue in the middle.

"And yet," he repeated, "fire destroys all."

 _*8**8*_

Whispersong awoke with a gasp, her paws thrashing in her bracken nest. Her swollen belly throbbed, and she let out a yowl of pain. Duskeyes, a midnight black queen with dark blue eyes, bolted upright in the nest beside her.

"Whispersong, what's wrong?" Duskeyes gasped, rolling to her paws. Her belly was full of kits as well, but it would be longer before she started to show signs of swelling. She had volunteered to stay in the nursery with Whispersong in case she had begun kitting in the middle of the night.

"I don't know—my belly, the ki—" She broke off as a new wave of pain rushed through her. She let out another yowl. She had never imagined it would feel this bad. Panic began to set in. Was something going wrong? She fought and writhed more.

"Whispersong, hold on," Duskeyes meowed, leaping up. "I'm going to go fetch Brightsoul."

"Hurry!" Whispersong wailed. As Duskeyes hared out of the den, Whispersong became aware of meows and movement in the camp. There was more noise at the front of the den and a familiar scent washed over her.

"Icethorn," she whispered. His scent wreathed around her as he covered her head and face in licks.

"My beautiful mate," he breathed, "are our kits coming?"

She was too in pain to respond, and let out a strangled meow.

"Stay strong," Icethorn whispered. His beautiful amber eyes met hers, and she was distracted for a moment from the pain. Then another throb washed over her and she whimpered again.

"Icethorn—out!" Brightsoul's commanding meow filled the nursery. "I need to have room to take care of the kitting, and if you're taking up room and air in here I can't do that."

"B-But—"

"Are you disobeying your medicine cat?" Brightsoul's thick, comforting scent overtook Icethorn's. "You—Rushclaw! Get him _out!_ "

"I'll be back soon, my love!" Icethorn cried as Rushclaw ushered him backwards. Brightsoul, a beautiful tortoiseshell and white she-cat with two different colored eyes—one green and one blue—appeared in Whispersong's line of sight. A stick was shoved under her nose. "Bite down on this if the pain gets too much to bear."

Whispersong felt Brightsoul's soft paws running over her belly. "Three kits," she said to a cat that Whispersong couldn't see. "The first one is coming."

Looking back later, Whispersong would never really remember how long the kitting took, or how much it hurt. The next thing she really remembered was Icethorn sitting with her, purring loudly, as she drowsily licked the tiny heads of her kits. Two she-kits and a tom.

"What would you like to name them?" he whispered as he groomed her head.

"We'll decide together," she replied sleepily.

"Okay." Icethorn leaned forward and gently touched his nose to one she-kit's head. Her fur was thick, a rich creamy-white color, and her nose was a very faded pink. "How about Blossomkit? Her fur is the color of the apple blossoms in the spring."

"And this one," Whispersong murmured. The other she-kit was black all over with white paws and a white tail-tip. "Sharpkit."

"Sharpkit?" Icethorn echoed, bemused.

"It's a fighter's name for a fighting warrior," Whispersong murmured. "Brightsoul said she kicked and fought from the moment she took her first breath."

"What about the last one?" Icethorn said, leaning forward to lick the head of the middle kit, Blossomkit larger and Sharpkit smaller. He had not cried when he had taken his first breath. He had simply latched on and begun eating from the first moment.

Whispersong was quiet, thinking hard. He had a brown pelt, spotted with darker flecks of black, and his paws and ears were solid black. His tiny kit claws were already sharp like thorns, and Whispersong could feel them on her sore belly.

Icethorn reached forward and touched the tiny kit's pelt with his tail. "I like Brackenkit."

Snowstar suddenly flashed through Whispersong's mind. She took in a sharp breath and was about to protest, but when she looked up at Icethorn, she caught a flash of white over his shoulder. Snowstar padded from behind Icethorn, his piercing blue gaze fixed on Whispersong, starlight coursing through his pelt. Icethorn's eyes were fixed lovingly on his three new kits; he obviously had no idea that Snowstar was visiting.

 _It was you_ , Whispersong realized. _You told him that name._

Snowstar nodded, turning his gaze to the kit.

Whispersong looked back at the tiny kit, the poor, innocent kit who had no idea what was in store for him. She found herself choked up whenever she thought about disagreeing with Icethorn.

So in the end, she murmured, "Brackenkit."

When she looked back up, Snowstar had vanished.

 _No, Dandelionkit, Snowstar didn't tell Icethorn my name just to be mean. It was set in stone in StarClan that my name would be Brackenkit—my parents just needed a nudge in the right direction._

 _Of course, the neon blue in the flames was for my eyes, Thorn. You're very observant._

 _This is the part of the story where I come in. I won't bore you with my early kit life; my first interaction with my destiny happened when I was five moons old. I had decided to impress Duskeyes' new kits by taking Blossomkit and Sharpkit to go hunting._

"This isn't a good idea!" Sharpkit insisted, bristling as she followed me through the forest.

"Oh, come on, Sharpkit," I said, flicking my tail across her nose. She spat angrily. "We'll catch a mouse for Whispersong and a mouse for Duskeyes and they'll be so proud of us!"

"For once, Brackenkit, I'm with Sharpkit," Blossomkit said, somewhat nervously.

We were deep in the forest, and I was in the lead. Splashstar had just christened two new warriors —Cherrywhisker and Eaglefeather—and the apprentices' den was empty. So I had decided that we were _almost_ old enough to be apprentices, so we might as well start training early.

"You two are just mouse-hearts," I taunted. "I can catch a mouse! If you two want to run back to camp and hide in Whispersong's belly that's fine with me."

Sharpkit spat again, obviously furious. She was quick to anger, especially when I poked and prodded her. It probably came from being the smallest in the litter, desperate to prove herself.

"I can catch a mouse," she snarled angrily.

"Then prove it," I goaded.

And so our adventure went, with Blossomkit, sweet, gentle Blossomkit who couldn't hurt a fly, gently moderating while Sharpkit and I bickered. Sharpkit, true to her word, caught a mouse that was as big as she was! (However, being a tiny kit and only five moons, that was not very big.)

At one point, we stopped at a bush that, for some reason, smelled extremely weird.

"What's this?" Blossomkit asked, nervous. "Why does it smell so stinky?"

"I'll see," I said proudly, trotting around the bush. Immediately, teeth were in my scruff and I was hauled off of the ground, screeching like a fox.

"What are _you_ doing here?" a male voice demanded. I slashed out with my front paws like I had seen the apprentices doing, and my tiny claws met in something. A voice yowled, and I was dropped like a stone. Scrabbling in the dirt, I darted away, bowling Sharpkit over and under the bush. Blossomkit was already under there with us.

A huge ginger tom shouldered the bush away and stared at us, green eyes burning. As soon as he reached in a claw to hook us out, a loud caterwaul from our side of the border sounded and the ginger tom was bowled away. It was Icethorn, at the head of a search party.

 _*8**8*_

 _Needless to say, we were given a good, long scolding from not only Splashstar, but Duskeyes and Whispersong as well. And the poor mouse that Sharpkit had caught was abandoned._

 _I learned later that the tom who had attacked us was Flameclaw from FireClan, a warrior renowned for not only his temper but his fierceness in battle. My apprenticeship went without much incident, although Whispersong was as protective as ever. I know now that it was only because of the prophecy that Snowstar had whispered in her dreams so many moons before._

 _Blossomkit had decided to train as a medicine cat, and was christened under Brightsoul as Blossomheart. Sharpkit and I continued on the path of the warrior._

 _My next encounter was during my warrior ceremony, and it was Whispersong's fault._

 _*8**8*_

"Sharppaw, from this day forward, you shall be known as Sharpspirit. Your courage and strength will serve the Clan well for many seasons."

"Thank you, Splashstar," Sharpspirit murmured. Her mentor, a tom named Snakestrike, solid black with brown stripes, looked about to burst with pride. Icethorn couldn't stop purring. But I couldn't help but notice that Whispersong was looking very anxious when Splashstar stepped up to me. My mentor, Sorrelfly, a beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes, looked on proudly.

 _Is Whispersong not proud of me?_ was all I could think.

"Brackenpaw, from this moment on," Splashstar said, "you will be known as…Brackenfire."

" _No!_ "

The entire Clan, myself included, spun to stare at Whispersong, who had leapt to her paws. Icethorn looked horrified. She looked terrified.

Splashstar shared a knowing look with Whispersong. "While fire may be feared in all the Clans," he said, almost like he was speaking directly to her, "it is also a source of birth and regrowth. Fire destroys, but fire also brings life. Brackenfire, you have many things to offer to the Clan, and your spirit, burning with all the strength of a raging fire, will keep this Clan strong."

For a few very long, scary, embarrassing heartbeats, no cat moved. Then Duskeyes' kits, Huntpaw, Jasperpaw, Orchidpaw, and Twistpaw, leapt up and down, cheering my and Sharpspirit's names.

 _*8**8*_

 _It was not long after that that I demanded Whispersong tell me everything she was keeping from me. So she told me about Snowstar, and the things he had done on the night that I was born. She told me of my destiny. And I won't lie, I was scared._

 _Yes, Dandelionkit, even the warriors of StarClan get scared._

 _…I'm getting to that, Aspenkit. That's the next part in my story._

 _Yes. Onto my death._

 _*8**8*_

"MoonClan, attack!"

FireClan had invaded our territory for the last time. This was an all-out raid. However, they had somehow known we were coming and had met us halfway across their territory. I was at the head of the raid party. Splashstar, recovering from a bout of greencough, was back at camp.

As I leapt into battle, I collided with their leader. You remember Flameclaw. He was Flamestar now.

"I remember you," he growled as we tussled. "I should have killed you when you were a kit. Then you wouldn't be such a thorn in my side!"

We tussled, threw insults, bit, scratched, kicked… But he had nine lives. I didn't. He finally ended up with me pinned down by the throat. My ears had been shredded. My shoulder was throbbing. I couldn't feel half of my tail. My back ached. I didn't hear whatever clever thing he said right before…

 _*8**8*_

 _And then the prophecy made sense. Bracken brought life, fire destroyed life. Flamestar was a murderous, cruel leader, and I was helpless to watch his tyrannical reign over FireClan until he was killed by my sister. Sweet Sharpstar, she succeeded Splashstar after the deputy Riverfeather was killed by the same murderous Flamestar._

 _I had had a beautiful mate in Orchidflower, Duskeyes' beautiful kit. She was pregnant when StarClan took me away. I got to watch my kits grow up from way up here, in Silverpelt. My legacy lives on in MoonClan, as a story that the elders tell._

 _Of course, they tell it differently. They tell of brave Brackenfire, who was destined to die before he was born, who lived every day to the fullest, who cared none for himself and all for other cats._

 _They don't tell, however, that I was a coward._

* * *

 _However, that is a story for another long night. Sleep well, Dandelionkit, Aspenkit, Thorn of Rose in Rock. You will see your skies tomorrow. But always remember, no matter what the circumstances, you are stronger than what you believe._


End file.
